Movies
‘War Machine’ Review – Netflix’s New Alien Invasion Movie Shows Little Signs of Life
It just goes to show how influential a movie like Predator (1987) is—we’re still getting imitations all these years later. Reinforcing it as the benchmark for all “soldiers versus monster” stories is a crowd of copycats that can never quite measure up, or understand what made Predator stand out. That is certainly the case with Patrick Hughes’ War Machine.
This new clash between military brawn and extraterrestrial precision gets points for simply going bigger with its alien antagonist, but nearly everything else in this movie is underwhelming.
Throwing characters straight into a hairy situation without blatantly setting up their personal journey is becoming a rare sight these days. War Machine definitely doesn’t avoid the ever-present trend of stacking traumas, seeing as how Alan Ritchson’s character here, who later goes by the designation of “81”, is acting on—you guessed it—unresolved trauma. Scoot past the harsh outset, and 81 is now found working out his feelings at a special ops boot camp.
Perhaps more interesting would have been starting the movie right then and there, and figuring out why this hulking soldier is so guarded and antisocial. Instead, we know right from the beginning why 81 is emotionally constipated and why he’s humiliating his fellow recruits in the obstacles. This foreknowledge only makes the story beats, not to mention the outcome, all the more predictable.
War Machine. (L-R) Jai Courtney as Squad Leader and Alan Ritchson as 81 in War Machine. Cr. Ben King/Netflix © 2026.
Now, if you signed up for something with more energy, then you might leave a bit disappointed. The movie is too realistically designed to ever really cut loose. That said, once you’re past the perfunctory first act, War Machine enters the more potentially satisfying arc of its invasion story. 81 and his less-competent comrades are eventually caught off guard by a colossal murder tank from outer space, one that’s been sent to wipe out humanity in and around these parts. That ensuing manslaughter occurs in spurts because Hughes, as both the director and co-writer, at least has the good decency to not bore us with a monotonous row of set-pieces. There are these cool-down scenes that help to balance everything out and make the few action-heavy sequences here a little worthwhile.
Ultimately, staying true to that grounded approach takes the steam out of the battles. Or rather, the direction. The encounters feel more flat than you want them to be, and treating the opponent as a mechanized entity essentially saps those fights of their energy. The sheer size of this invader is daunting, but after a while, that enormity isn’t enough to make up for its absence of character. Indeed, it’s just a machine we have here, and not a very interesting one at that.
War Machine. (L-R) Alan Ritchson as 81 and Stephan James as 7 in War Machine. Cr. Ben King/Netflix © 2026.
Had it not been for the coda, the rest of the movie is almost forgivable. Memorable? Not in the least, but nothing egregiously bad. Just middle-of-the-road stuff, as far as expensive, modern B-movies go. Once again, though, it’s like War Machine needed to spoon-feed and not allow us to infer things. Tacking on a second ending, when the first one was fine, reeks of padding and babying. Maybe it felt necessary for those who weren’t paying attention.
War Machine doesn’t have to be the next Predator, but surely it could have been more entertaining. In this current form, it’s bordering on lifeless and takes itself too seriously. So much so that even the vulnerable moments don’t hit as well as they should. Adding insult to injury, the movie is also a dull vehicle for Ritchson. Putting him in a role that strips him of his natural charm and makes him interchangeable with any basic soldier-type actor is a weird choice.
The Ritchson we saw in the opening scene—now that would have been a great human foe for the alien. Instead, though, we’re left with that figurative rendering of the movie’s title. A parallel that another character is sure to point out, in case we didn’t already deduce that bit ourselves.
War Machine streams on Netflix starting on March 6.
Poster for War Machine.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
You must be logged in to post a comment.